Author
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Topic: Greatest concerns for an Apollo disaster
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Delta7 Member Posts: 1527 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 02-03-2016 08:54 AM
I know that when Apollo 17 splashed down, flight controllers "were elated" that the program was over and no crew was lost. The implication was that they had been holding their breaths hoping nothing would go wrong.Has there ever been a discussion of which potential disaster scenario worried them the most? Was it a landing resulting in the lunar module tipping over, the LM failing to lift off from the lunar surface, another Apollo 13 type scenario, or something else? |
moorouge Member Posts: 2458 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 02-03-2016 11:58 AM
In the shuttle era, there were 'Critical One' failures that would result in the loss of a crew. I assume that another way of putting the question posed is what were the 'Critical One' failures for Apollo? |
Sy Liebergot Member Posts: 501 From: Pearland, Texas USA Registered: May 2003
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posted 02-03-2016 12:07 PM
quote: Originally posted by Delta7: ...flight controllers "were elated" that the program was over and no crew was lost
Which fight controllers? Where is this documented? |
NukeGuy Member Posts: 55 From: Irvine, CA USA Registered: May 2014
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posted 02-03-2016 02:03 PM
There is an article in Air&Space about Robert Gilruth that indicated that Gilruth, at least, was less than enthusiastic for continuing Apollo lunar missions after several landings. This was out of fear that fatalities could give congressional budget cutters a reason to stopped manned spaceflight for years. |
Delta7 Member Posts: 1527 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 02-03-2016 02:22 PM
quote: Originally posted by Sy Liebergot: Which fight controllers? Where is this documented?
I can't remember where I read it originally. I did bring the matter up in a thread a couple of years ago. You posted "We were elated" in reference to the Apollo 17 splashdown. So I guess the answer is... you. At least that's the impression I got. |
Delta7 Member Posts: 1527 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 02-03-2016 02:38 PM
I do remember reading an account of how NASA collectively breathed a sigh of relief when Apollo ended. So my basic questions is why? What was the biggest worry? Or even just to ask what above all else might have caused the people involved to wake up at night worrying, regardless of when the program ended? |
rlobinske Member Posts: 155 From: Crawfordville, FL Registered: Oct 2014
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posted 02-04-2016 07:05 AM
I don't know if there was something that worried them "most", but the history of Apollo had a lot of close calls that were part of the complexity of the missions. - Apollo 10 LM temporarily out of control because of a misplaced switch.
- Apollo 11 Comm troubles, computer errors and low on fuel during lunar approach
- Apollo 12 struck by lightning during launch
- Apollo 13 serious S-II pogo that caused an engine shutdown plus the more famous tank explosion
- Apollo 14 faulty switch that could have caused an unwanted abort during lunar descent.
- Apollo 15 LMP James Irwin's heart arrhythmia during EVA.
Mission control crew had to be on their toes for each mission, so I can see a sense of relief when the program concluded. Even post-lunar Apollo had issues. The CSM for the second Skylab crew lost two RCS quads while the ASTP crew suffered from nitrogen tetroxide inhalation while awaiting recovery after splashdown. |
tfrielin Member Posts: 162 From: Athens, GA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-04-2016 10:33 AM
quote: Originally posted by rlobinske: ...while the ASTP crew suffered from nitrogen tetroxide inhalation while awaiting recovery after splashdown.
It was much worse than that: The nitrogen tetroxide got sucked into the CM on descent when they failed to set the ELS switches to auto. Stafford had to manually deploy the parachute switches or they would have smacked into the ocean. If they'd all passed out (as did Brand) ASTP would have had a bad ending. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3446 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 02-04-2016 11:36 AM
Not to mention the O2 tank that exploded on Apollo 13 had originally been installed on Apollo 10. That would have been an interesting "what if" as to whether or not the Apollo moon landing program would have been canceled sooner than 17, and how far to the right the first landing would have happened, assuming the A10 crew made it back alive. |
Space Cadet Carl Member Posts: 225 From: Lake Orion, Michigan Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 02-05-2016 10:36 AM
I don't believe anyone was elated over the program ending. I've talked to Kranz and a couple other controllers that were inside the MOCR for Apollo 8 during Christmas, 1968. Gene wasn't in charge of "8", but he hung out in the MOCR anyway because of the immensity of flying to the Moon. I remember him saying many controllers had "sweaty palms" and they might have "grabbed the handles" once or twice, but they were also steely-eyed focused on what they were doing and they were prepared to repeat the job again and again without tiring for the next several years. |
Jonnyed Member Posts: 408 From: Dumfries, VA, USA Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 02-05-2016 08:03 PM
Seems like it's a communication shortfall: Verbalizing the concept of "elation" when what is really meant is "relief.""Elation" communicates a positive outcome or reality disproportionately high compared with expectations. "Relief" is the easing of anxieties based on any number of negative possibilities (most somewhat remote) that never manifest themselves and were never set "expectations." |
CMikeW Member Posts: 89 From: United States Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 02-05-2016 09:17 PM
I spent my entire Apollo career at KSC. I remember watching the Apollo 17 launch, then driving all night to go to a job interview because I thought I was going to get laid off. Didn't get an offer, but then spent my time working on Skylab and ASTP. After ASTP I remember thinking that I was an expert at Apollo S/C handling and check out, but there weren't any more of them around. I was just too deep in the trench to think out the bigger picture until after the last launch. |
Space Cadet Carl Member Posts: 225 From: Lake Orion, Michigan Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 02-06-2016 07:49 AM
quote: Originally posted by CMikeW: I was just too deep in the trench to think out the bigger picture...
That's probably what Kranz meant when he said "steely-eyed" to me. Too focused to think about anything else, CMike. |
garymilgrom Member Posts: 1966 From: Atlanta, GA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-06-2016 10:25 AM
quote: Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo: ... and how far to the right the first landing would have happened, assuming the A10 crew made it back alive.
Sorry Hart I don't understand your comment. Do you mean how delayed in time the landing attempt would have been after a significant accident in the previous mission? |
Sy Liebergot Member Posts: 501 From: Pearland, Texas USA Registered: May 2003
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posted 02-12-2016 03:26 PM
quote: Originally posted by Delta7: At least that's the impression I got.
Not relief, dunno where you got that impression. Of course, we were all elated for another successful Apollo mission. Sadness came after the forthcoming Skylab and ASTP missions were completed. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3446 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 02-12-2016 10:43 PM
quote: Originally posted by garymilgrom: Do you mean how delayed in time the landing attempt would have been after a significant accident in the previous mission?
Had an Apollo 13 accident happened on 10 — which is where the O2 tank was originally installed — it would be an interesting speculation as to how long the moon landing would be delayed, and how far the moon landing program would have gone. Would it have ended after just one landing on the moon? Would the Russians have caught up during the downtime? |
oly Member Posts: 971 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 02-13-2016 02:28 AM
Had the O2 tank failure occurred on Apollo 8 the results would be devastating. |
Tykeanaut Member Posts: 2216 From: Worcestershire, England, UK. Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 02-13-2016 04:53 AM
Getting off the moon would have been high on my worry list. |
robsouth Member Posts: 769 From: West Midlands, UK Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 02-13-2016 05:49 AM
quote: Originally posted by Delta7: I know that when Apollo 17 splashed down, flight controllers "were elated" that the program was over and no crew was lost.
They did lose a crew. Apollo 1. |